Srinagar: Despite passing of many years, the residents of Lal Bazar are awaiting cab service in the area.
The residents said that although being in the heart of Srinagar, they are without cab service.
The locals in the area said that they have been reaching out to the administration for years to start the service from Dargah to Lal Chowk via Lal Bazar, but their demands are falling on deaf ears.
They said the students, office goers at Lal Bazar, Budshah-mohalla, Hawal and dozens of colonies along the route are suffering due to the issue.
A delegation from the local Welfare committees in the area said that though welfare committees of the area put forth their demand several times but nothing was done.
“Public transport issue remains one of the burning problems faced by our area. It has been several years that we are facing an acute transport issue. Over the past few years we met District administration officials, reached out to the grievance cell and RTO but nothing was done. On our route, mostly overloaded buses ply. Women, students are unable to get seats on these buses and are suffering. These buses also cause traffic jams in our area,” said Abdul Majeed, a local.
The residents said that as buses make multiple stops, the officer goers and students are unable to reach their destinations on time. They said a lot of time is wasted in transit due to slow-moving buses.
“We are stuck with a decades-old public transport system. As other routes of Srinagar are full of cabs, buses, and SRTC vehicles, our route is neglected. The area is full of coaching centers and students want to reach on time. We have to wait in buses for long and have to face overloading. Most of the time buses are not available on time,” said Sumaira Jan, a student from Lal Bazar.
The locals said that everyone doesn’t have personal vehicles and they are facing a huge issue. They said that due to narrow roads buses usually caret traffic jams and inconvenience to commuters.
The locals said that they reached to grievance cell several times but nothing was done. The locals of the area appealed the administration to look into the issue and resolve it without any delay.